When it comes to getting dressed, men have it easy: They simply wear what their fathers and grandfathers did.
There have been enviably fewer innovations and modifications in recent decades, overall, to what fashion writer Josh Sims considers the menswear canon. In his new book Icons of Men’s Style (Laurence King Publishing, $29.95), Sims deconstructs the elements of men’s style, those wardrobe and accessory staples that have endured for decades. Each gets a historical snapshot before he traces its progress through popular culture, and Sims unpacks everything from Salvador Dalí’s double-breasted overcoat and the tan trench favoured by film noir gumshoes like Sam Spade, to Hawaiian shirts, Y-fronts, aviator sunglasses and desert boots — even fountain pens gets the pop-anthropology treatment.
I recently spoke with Piper Weiss, author of My Mom the Style Icon (the blog, and now a book), and when I asked whether a photo blog in homage to dad-style would prove as popular, she suggested it would be less diverse than its counterpart.
“They’re defiantly wearing their clothing,” Weiss said. “It’s more about chutzpah and balls as opposed to a consciousness of what they look like. It’s a different take.”
Menswear designer Michael Bastian would seem to agree — when we discussed influences, he told me it was the way his father and the men where he grew up in Rochester, N.Y., dressed and father-son trips to Gloucester, Mass., that influenced his recognizable retro-preppy Americana aesthetic.
There’s something comforting about this sartorial sameness. It’s what Sims calls the benchmarks of masculine style through a “nostalgic soft-focus.” (And the same reliable casual confidence that has men’s grooming brand American Crew touting the late Steve McQueen rather than the latest Hollywood heartthrob as the inspiration behind their new limited edition Male Fundamentals line.)
With design honed through sport, military and work influences, here are a few male wardrobe elements Sims catalogues that you’ll surely recognize from the men in your life.
The Blouson: James Dean’s typical blouson from Rebel Without a Cause, the lightweight jacket also sometimes known as a Harrington or golf jacket, is a style worn by many different guys — from Elvis Presley in 1954’s King Creole to The Clash to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sims traces it back to 1937 and clothiers John and Isaac Miller, the Manchester manufacturers who originated the G9 blouson under the Baracuta brand name, lined in clan tartan.
The Denim Jacket: Sims recounts the story of how when Bing Crosby was refused entry to a fancy hotel because he was wearing a jean jacket, Levi Strauss & Co. made him an entire tuxedo. Around 1962, Levi’s original riveted denim jacket of 1905 was amended with triangular seaming and higher front flapped pockets. It was popular with ranchers and long-distance haulage drivers alike (hence the in-house name that stuck — the “trucker”). H.D. Lee and Wrangler also made denim, the former notably creating the iconic blanket fleece and corduroy-lined western Storm Rider jacket, a staple on Paul Newman’s Hud.
The Pea Coat: The classic pea coat has been a standard issue uniform item of the U.S. Navy since 1881, first in thick Kersey midnight blue wool, and after 1980, in black Melton wool. Its design is derived from the British Royal Navy’s reefer jacket, cut short for ease of movement and double-breasted to protect again the chill.
The Trench: He’ll always have Paris — and Humphrey Bogart always had a double-breasted trench. No mention of the weatherproof topper and its storm flaps, can be made without John Emery of Aquascutum, who supplied its precursor as capes and field coats during the Crimean War, and Thomas Burberry’s innovation of chemically-goated canvas fabric called gabardine. (He kitted Ernest Shackleton out in the stuff for his 1914 Antarctic expedition.) According to Sim, the distinctive style got its name from British army officers (it was part of their First World War kit), who nicknamed it the “trenchwarm” and began wearing it in their civilian lives long after the war had ended.
The Biker Jacket: A favourite of Johnny Strabler, a.k.a. The Wild One’s Marlon Brando, the biker jacket was originally created by Russian immigrant Irving Schott for Beck Industries (a Harley-Davidson distributor) in tough horse hide to protect motorcyclists against weather and road rash. It was named the Perfecto, Sims says, after Schott’s favourite brand of cigar.
Icons of Men’s Style ($29.95) is available from Laurence King Publishing.
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